


Trick or Treat

by OTTSTF



Series: Stranger Things - Early Reunions [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Halloween, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-04-05 13:59:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 14,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14045769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTTSTF/pseuds/OTTSTF
Summary: Mike shares what seems to be the perfect plan for El to finally meet them again: Halloween costumes.The idea gets them both excited as she listens to him imagine the scenario. Immediately, she prepares herself a costume, and as the day comes, she asks Hopper to let her go trick-or-treating with Mike(and the party).





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [MistyRainTheFemaleWarrior](/users/MistyRainTheFemaleWarrior/) for encouraging me to actually get this one started!
> 
> I had started this a while ago, but it never got far. Now, I decided to scrap the original and begin afresh, and I'm so glad I did.  
> Hope you enjoy!

“Hey El. Day three-hundred and fourty-four. If you’re there, please, let me know. I promise I won’t tell anybody, just give me a sign.”

 

 

A sigh.  
“It’s Halloween soon, which is a holiday where we dress up and decorate everything to be scary, like ghosts or skeletons. Me and mom went shopping for my costume today. We’re all dressing up as Ghost Busters, which are guys from a movie…” he sighs again. “I wish I could show you.”

“But basically, they hunt and catch ghosts as their job and…”

He stalls, his facial expression displaying the fact that he’s had a sudden thought.  
“That gives me an idea… If you’re hiding, from like the bad men or something… maybe you could dress up for Halloween! Nobody would recognise you then, so you could come join us! Then maybe… maybe I could try to sort something out with mom to let you stay with us again.”

He finds himself feeling excited, despite doubting the likelyhood of her showing up.  
“You could go as a ghost! A ghost outfit is really simple, all you need is a white sheet that covers you completely, hanging just above your feet so you can still walk. Then you just cut out two holes where your eyes are, and that’s a ghost costume. It’d be perfect, we could say we…” he stalls, suddenly realising the word _‘captured’_ probably isn’t the best here, considering her background.

“We could say we _found_ you.” he cautiously treads around the word. “You could come trick-or-treating with us; it’d be amazing!”

“Oh, man. El, if you’re there, please, try to find us. We shouldn’t be too far from my house – you’d probably hear Dustin and Lucas shouting like always anyway.”

 

He daydreams of the posibility for a moment. The thought of El showing up in a ghost costume, being able to experience Halloween with them, being able to eat far too much candy after it all.

“I really hope you make it.” he finally says. “Anyway, I need to go to bed. Goodnight El. I hope you’re okay, and I really hope you can come back some day.”

He waits a moment, as he always does, before retracting the SuperCom’s antenna, then lowering the volume knob to the “off” position.

 

 

El spins her head to watch him walk towards the basement stairs, vanishing as he begins walking up them, prompting her to remove her blindfold.

For the first time in days she’s lost track of, she’s smiling. _Halloween. Dressed up, hidden by a sheet over her._ It sounds like the perfect solution to getting out without being recognised by anyone that might be looking for her. Now she only hopes that Hopper will agree.

She sleeps well that night; the smile remaining throughout the night. She dreams of meeting the party, _meeting Mike,_ them dressed as ghost-busters (she’s seen his outfit during her visits), her dressed as ghost. Mike’s right, it would be amazing. It’s the perfect idea.

 

 

She wakes up early the next morning. Immediately, she finds herself a spare sheet, tosses it over herself, and carely marks where her eyes are with a pair of scissors. Taking the sheet off, she then expands the two holes, making plenty of room for her to see through.

Looking at herself with the outfit on in her small mirror, she smiles behind the cloth. It hides her face completely. Nobody would recognise her. She could find Mike, reveal herself to him, maybe the others as long as they don’t go and shout her name, and then go ‘trick-or-treating’ with them.

She can’t wait.

 

 

“What’s _‘trick-or-treating’_?” El asks Hopper during breakfast.

He pauses, looking at her. “Mike mention that?”

She nods, as he’d expected.

“It’s… something kids do on Halloween. You go to people’s houses, knocking all the doors. When they answer, you say ‘trick or treat!’, and usually they give you some candy.”

“ _Candy?”_ she perks up.

He smirks. “Yeah, whatever they have. There are the rare few that’ll show you a trick instead, but most do stick to treats.”

“What kind of tricks?”

“Magic tricks, I guess, like ones we’ve seen on TV.”

She nods, understanding. Trick-or-treating sounds fun, she decides. She can’t wait for Halloween, to show Hopper her costume and ask him to take her.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The day finally arrives. Waking up, suddenly remembering Halloween, a smile shoots onto her face as she springs up from her bed. Reaching underneath, she pulls the cloth she’d cut and places it on her bed. She quickly gets dressed, and then tosses the cloth over her head, looking at her reflection in her mirror to make sure the outfit still looks good. _It’s perfect._

She creeps out of her bedroom, being as quiet as possible, before coming to a stop just behind Hopper. He turns around, and she nearly laughs at his sudden scare.

“Ghost.” she informs him simply.

“Sure are, kid.”

“Halloween.” she further clarifies.

“Sure is, but now? It’s breakfast.”

“Trick – or – treat.” she finally says, hoping he’ll understand.

He turns to her, halting his actions as he takes in her words.

“You wanna go trick-or-treating?”

She nods her head.

“Are you serious?”

“They wouldn’t see me.” she says.

“Who wouldn’t?”

“The bad men.”

“No.” he says firmly.

“But-”

“No, kid.”

“But they – I’d stay hidden under here.”

“It’s too much of a risk.”

“ _Not stupid._ ” she immediately follows. “I stay under here. If trouble, I run, wait, then come back here when safe.”

He drops his head with a sigh.

“You know why I don’t want you going out, kid?”

“Not safe.” she says simply. “But I’ll be careful.”

“I know you would, kid. You’re not stupid, I know that, but…” he pauses, sighing. “I just don’t wanna lose you, okay? You’ve honestly become like a daughter to me. I couldn’t bare it now.”

She smiles at his words, ducking her head in her shy way.  
Eventually she lifts the sheet from her head, before walking up to him, giving him a small hug “You’re like a papa to me.” she tells him. “A good papa.”

He smiles at that, a lot. _Damn, this kid knows how to break barriers._

“You won’t lose me.” she says. “Please? Can I go?”

He sighs, about to deny again, but he looks down at her, and is caught by those begging eyes of hers. So innocent despite everything, so pleading, so curious.

A sigh again. “I can’t exactly take you with _me,_ kid. I don’t have a kid, not for real anyway. It’d be a bit suspicious for me to be suddenly taking a kid out trick-or-treating.”

“I can go with Mike.” she says, hopeful.

“You-” he pauses. “This was all his suggestion, wasn’t it?” he deduces, pointing to her outfit.

She eventually nods her head, ducking it as she worries over what his reaction may now be.

“I should’ve guessed.” he simply says.

 

There’s an uncomfortable pause, as Hopper runs the scenario through his head. Yeah, she’s not stupid. Yeah, he can trust her to behave, to keep low. He’s sure he can trust Mike to do the same. Can he trust the rest of them, though?

Perhaps if he managed to talk to Mike first, introduce El to him alone first and let him do the work of keeping the other guys quiet, maybe this could work. He knows full well he’ll be sweating bags whilst she’s out, constantly worrying. He’d set a strict curfew, and demand that Mike bring her to a meeting place at said time.

_Mike will probably beg to know where we’ve been all this time._

_Maybe… Maybe it is time.Just him._

“Alright, fine.” he says. Her reaction is immediate, her back straightening in excitement.  
“But listen to me. And listen good, okay?”

She nods.

“I will talk to Mike first. You’ll stay back. Once I’ve decided if it’s safe, you can show yourself. He can know who you are. The others…” he sighs. “That’s his choice, if he can trust them to keep quiet.”

She nods her head, the smile on her face growing by the second.

“You stay with Mike at all times. I want him to bring you back to me by nine, okay?”

Her head tilts up as she thinks of what nine PM looks like on a digital clock, to tell Mike.

“Two… one, zero zero? Or nine zero zero?” she says, having used twenty-four hour time with Hopper.

“Yeah. Twenty-one hundred. Nine PM. No later or I’ll go absolutely insane. Got it?”

“Nine. Promise.”

He squeezes his eyes, sucking up the fear of finally letting her out, sighing through his nose.  
“Okay, kid. If Mike promises to stick to those rules too, this can work.”

She squeezes him tight, nearly knocking him over. “ThankyouThankyouThankyou!” she blurts out.

“Woah, easy!” he laughs. “You’ve been so good all this time, it’s about right you finally get a bit of a treat.”

She’s practically jumping. “Thank you!” she blurts again. She tugs on his shirt, pulling him down to her level. She places a quick enthusiastic kiss onto his cheek, not even thinking about it really, but she’d seen the gesture on TV plenty of times, so the concept of it has been worked into her head for a while.

As she runs off, Hopper is stunned. He raises back up slowly, watching her run off into the bathroom, likely to sort herself out _already._ But he can’t help but feel stunned at the kiss. She’s never done that before. The thought of affection had never crossed his mind, but now she’s so happy, so excited, that she seemed to do it out of natural instinct.

 _Yes._ That’s a tear under his right eye. It’s been so long since he’s felt a fatherly love, or received a daughterly love, but here, now, that’s exactly what they just shared. He can’t help it. The smile on his face is huge as he runs his fingers over where she’d kissed.

He doesn’t regret his decision in the slightest. She’s so happy, he’d put himself through the panic he’s sure he’ll be feeling later fifty times a day if it could make her this happy all the time.

 

Now he can’t wait to see both of their faces as he allows them to meet, for the first time in nearly a year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tearing up too, Chief. Don't be ashamed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I _really_ wanted to jump straight onto this chapter immediately after posting the last, but I'm glad I didn't. It would've been a lot worse if I did.   
>  That's my problem in a nutshell. I just wanna keep writing. But if I do, it'll be rushed. That's not a good thing.

“Hey, kid?”

El, sat on the sofa behind their TV, looks over to the dining table, where Hopper sits with a newspaper obscuring his face.  
“Yes?”

He lowers said paper.  
“What does Mike actually say when he calls out to you?”

She’s caught off-guard by the suddenty of the question. He’s never asked about Mike’s half of the “conversation”; never really asked anything other than _“You visited him again?”_ , so this is strange.

“Why?” she asks, furrowing her eyebrows. Not only has Hopper never asked, but she’s sure Mike wouldn’t want anyone else knowing.

“I wanna go speak to him after school, so I know for sure I can catch him before _you_ meet with them,  but it’ll seem a bit odd if I just show up for no reason, so I want to make it look like I’ve been hearing them. He uses his radio, doesn’t he?”

“Super-Com.” she clarifies.

“Yeah, that. So my point is, anyone close enough on the same channel would hear him, so I could use that as an excuse.”

S he bits her lip for a moment, running the scenario through her head. Eventually, she nods.  
“He starts, saying  _‘if you’re there, please, give me a sign. Anything. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.’_ ”

Hopper already feels a tinge of guilt. That sounds  _desperate,_ if anything, by the way she’s immitating his voice. 

“Then he talks about his day, and finishes _‘I hope you’re okay El. I can’t wait to meet again, because I know, some day, some how, we will.’_.”

Hopper’s eyebrows raise.  _Is he seriously talking about the afterlife? Is he really that_ _badly hurt over her?_   
“Jesus kid, I…”

He stalls, taken back by the thought that a  _thirteen year old_ has been saying those words. He knows he’s been keeping El safe, but he feels guilty for not letting Mike know of her safety; he  _could_ ,  _should_ have just told him that she’s okay, and nothing further. The kid’s been in a ‘deep depression’ as some have put it, all because of him.

“I’m… sorry. I had no idea he was that bad.”

She shrugs.  _Can’t change the past._

“Well anyway, at least he’ll know now.” he says, more for himself. “School ends in a couple of minutes so I better head out now. Will you be okay?”

“Can I come?” she asks, despite already knowing the answer.

“To school? With tonnes of people around us? That’ll be too risky, El. And like I said, me showing up with a kid would seem pretty odd in everyone else’s eyes.”

She nods, the response being exactly what she’d expected. “Okay. See you later.”

He ruffles her hair,  her ducking away slightly. “Good kid.” he smiles, loving the typical reaction. “ See you later.”

  


 

* * *

  


  


Leaning against his truck, he watches the school door for the group of four he’s after. He’s there for about five minutes, before they finally show up. Hopper’s confused at the sight of a fifth strolling along with them: a red-haired girl, stood between the Sinclair and Henderson kids, chatting away with them. By the looks of it, Mike’s not involved, and Will’s strolling along with him.

Shaking the confusion, he stands straight, ready to call Mike over. As if hearing his thoughts, Mike catches eye of Hopper, and scrunches his eyebrows in question of Hopper’s reasoning to be at a school. Hopper simply waves his hand, calling him over.

“ _Me?”_ Mike mouths, pointing to himself, Hopper nodding in response. Mike and Will both share a glance, confusion planted on their faces.  Mike shrugs, before splitting away and heading over to Hopper.

He remains silent as he approaches, warrenting Hopper to start the conversation.

“Hop in.” he says, patting the passenger door.

“I’m not in trouble, am I?” Mike asks, although he doesn’t sound worried.

Hopper scoffs a laugh nontheless. “You’d be in the back if that were the case.”

Shrugging, Mike opens the passenger door, climbing in as Hopper does the same on the driver’s side.

“What’s this about, then?” he asks the man.

“I wanted to check on you. I’ve been hearing some of your calls to El and, believe it or not, I’ve been worried about you.”

Mike’s eyebrows raise. “You’ve been hearing me?”

“Every now and then. Not a lot, but enough to tell me how bad you’ve been taking things.”

Mike’s head ducks. “Yeah… it’s been hard.”

“I know, kid.” Hopper nods, knowing full well now. “I caught ear of you saying that you can’t wait to meet again, no matter _how_ or _when_. That… that worried me.”

“I’m not planning to do anything stupid…” Mike catches on to his worry immediately.

“Okay, good.” Hopper’s genuinely relieved, despite knowing he’ll be letting them meet later anyway.

  


There’s a lingering silence between them for a moment, before Hopper starts talking again in an attempt to break the tension.

“Would you really be able to keep quiet, if she showed up? I… would’ve thought you’d be telling all the others, to be honest.” he says, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible.

Mike holds his gaze for a moment, worrying Hopper, but he eventually shrugs.  
“I don’t think I’d tell them for a good while. I’m sure if she’s out there somewhere, she’s hiding from the bad men, so we don’t need Dustin or Lucas shouting loud enough for all of Hawkins to hear.”

Hopper’s eyebrows raise as the boy essentially takes his thoughts straight out of his own head. Quickly composing himself, he fakes a small laugh. “That bad, are they?”

“Absolutely.” Mike agrees. “They don’t know the meaning of ‘quiet’ sometimes.”

Hopper hums,  nodding his head.

He’s certain he’ll let them meet now, although he’s not sure how they’ll go about it. The ideal situation would be getting him away from the others for a moment, but he doubts that would happen without being far too suspicious.

Then a thought clicks in his mind.  
For a moment, he’s interally arguing with himself.  
_You can’t do that. It’s too risky._  
The kid’s smart, there’s no need to worry about him.  
Why take the risk?  
He’s been desperately depressed all this time. You owe him this, at least.

He sighs.  
“You got time? I wanna take you somewhere.”

“Where?” Mike asks, eyebrows furrowing.

“A little place where we can talk about things. Get it out of your system, you know?”

Mike laughs slightly. “Nothing can make it easier.”

“I know that, Michael, but I think talking about it would help, you know? It’d put my mind at ease at least.”

“Can’t we talk here?”

“Do you want people eyeballing you in a cop car?”

Mike shrugs at that. “Good point. Let me go tell the others quick.”

Hopper nods, observing the kid stroll over to them.

  


“Hey, uh, Hopper wants a chat with me somewhere quiet. You guys head on without me.” Mike says to the four others.

“About what?” Lucas questions.

“I don’t know, all I know is that he doesn’t want people eyeballing us in a cop car; you know, in case they think I’ve done something.”

“Do you know where he’s taking you?” Will asks.

“He hasn’t said.”

“Sounds a bit suspicious to me.” Max states.

“He’s a cop.” Mike reminds her, rolling his eyes.

“None the less!” Max follows up.

Mike groans. “He’s fine. Anyway, don’t wanna keep him waiting. See you guys later.”

“Alright then…” Dustin has the last word as Mike begins walking away.

“Bit weird, don’t you think?” Lucas questions the two other guys.

“Could be about anything.” Will gives them _that_ glance.

“Suppose.” Lucas then finishes, as they’re continuing their walk..

  


 

* * *

  


  


“Where are we going?” Mike asks Hopper, not knowing the path they’re taking.

“A little old place of mine.” Hopper tells him.

“In the woods?”

“Nothing wrong with that! It used to be my grandfather’s. It’s kinda nice.”

Mike shrugs. “As long as you’re not planning on locking me up there.”

“ _Michael._ ”

“I’m joking… calm down.”

Hopper rolls his syes,  continuing the path towards their destination. As they come to a halt at a dead end, Hopper climbs out.  
“Legs from here, kid.”

Mike follows, keeping speed with the man as they stroll through the woods.

“How far is this place?”

“Not too far.”

“And how come you’re so curious _now?_ Why never before?”

Hopper glances at the boy at that, temporarily unsure of how to answer.  
“I’ve only recently started hearing you. I guess it’s taken some time for my worry to build up?”

Mike shrugs. “What  _have_ you heard?”

“Most of the time I’ve just caught the end. You know, asking her to give you a sign, saying you hope she’s okay and you can’t wait to meet again.”

Mike hums, but says nothing more.  They’re walking for a few minutes, before Mike catches eye of their destination.

“That it?”

“That’s the one.”

  


They’re standing on the porch. Hopper gives Mike one last glance, smiling slightly before he places their knock on the door.

Mike’s eyebrows furrow, wondering why on Earth he’s knocking his own door, but then he hears three locks seemingly automatically slide in response, and his eyebrows raise. Hopper steps back from the door, waving Mike in before himself.

Mike slowly approaches the door,  pushing it open carefully. He firstly hears a TV, relatively low as if whoever’s watching it doesn’t want it to be heard by anyone but themselves.

He steps in as the door’s fully open, and glances around quickly, taking in the surroundings. He then looks to the TV, before his eyes are caught by a mop of hair sat on the sofa.

He can’t see their face, but given the conversation earlier, and this person’s height, he immediately catches on, with a gasp loud enough to earn her attention. Her head springs to his direction, and their eyes lock immediately, for the first time in over three-hundred and fifty days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry. I really am.  
> Next chapter will be up no later than tomorrow I'm sure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all SO MUCH for the amazing feedback you've been giving. This is the most motivated I've been in months, and it's all thanks to you beautiful people.

"Mike!" El practically screams the cabin down as soon as their eyes lock.

Mike's on auto-pilot, his feet on route to El, but in a matter of seconds, she's off the sofa and diving into him; he having to take a few steps backward to avoid being completely knocked over.

"El." he gasps her name, squeezing her just as tight. They may be about to cut each-other's circulation, but neither of them could care any less.

"Mike." she sighs back, unable to believe she's finally in his arms again after all this time. Tears begin to fall from both of them pretty quickly, overwhelmed by the relief of finally being together. Three-hundred and fifty days of separation finally coming to a close in a matter of seconds, and neither of them can quite believe this is real.

Hopper casually stands aside, observing as the two hold each-other tight without saying a word. Tears reaching their huge smiles as they remain in each-other's embrace for near enough two minutes.

Mike finally pulls back ever so slightly, and their eyes lock again as for a moment. Mike's eyes begin to dart around her face shortly after, however. He raises a hand absent-mindedly, quickly finding it in her hair.

Her smile grows as his hand discovers the feeling of her hair, the length of a strand as it becomes wrapped around a finger.

"Still pretty?" she asks, sounding exactly the same as she did the last time she'd asked that question.

"Huh?" Mike responds, caught off-guard.  
"Oh... sorry." he realises where his hand is, and that it _somehow_ has a strand curled around it.  
"It's... amazing." he says, as he lowers his hand. "Beautiful."

She ducks her head in a blush, smiling shyly. "Really?" she raises her head.

"Yeah!" he confirms. "I never thought it would've been curly... you know, I've only ever seen it cut, but..." he pauses, wondering how to describe it.  
"It suits you. Perfectly."

She smiles again, her hand tracing one of her strands, before she moves over to his hair, her finger ending up tangled just like his had.  
"Yours hasn't changed much."

He laughs slightly. "I like it this way."

"Me too." she doesn't hesitate, which earns an immediate head-ducking with a blush from him. The first time she's said anything about him, and it's a compliment. _A compliment. From her._

Their eyes lock again; both of them remaining silent. No words  _need_ saying, really. The way they scan each-other's eyes, hers so beautifully wide with never-ending curiosity, his  firm, yet soft as he stares into hers.

_When did I start leaning in?  
_ Without ever realising it, they find themselves extremely close to one another.  
_We're not stopping..._  
_Oh god._

Suddenly, contact is made.   
_Oh my god._  
Lips upon lips. Mike's panicking, but at the same time, he feels... _amazing._ This is so... _right._

  


  


Hopper finds himself staring out into the woods that surround them as he lets the kids reunite, knowing they absolutely need some peace as they get their first words out to each-other, once they finally manage to release their grips for a moment. And so he waits patiently, eyeballing the scenery around them, which he'd never really paid much attention to previously. But now, as he relaxes in this wonderful silence, he notices the different shapes of each tree; the way the sun lights up the features of each one. He'd never really considered himself a nature person, but here, in this peaceful silence, he can really appriciate the beauty of it all.

_Wait a minute.  
Silence?_

_When did they stop talki-  
Oh._

"Oh, come on guys. Already?"

The speed they jump apart is  _ absolute hilarity. _

"Chief! I- that wasn't... I mean, I never..."

"Mike."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

_"Mike."_

"It wasn't what it-"

_ "Michael.  _ For god's sake. Calm down."  
That finally stops his rambling.  
"I understand." 

"You... you're not mad?" his voice sounds scared still, but also confused.

"Mike. She's told me about your first kiss before.  _ A few times,  _ in fact. The first time you see each-other in... well, a year?" he feels guilt rise. " I should've guessed you'd end up crashed against each-other like that."

Mike blushes.  _ Harder than he'd already done.  
_ "I... didn't even notice it happen though, I'm sorry."

"Mike. Stop apologising. That's exactly how it happens. We've all been there."

Mike nods, looking up to El. She's blushed, the biggest shy smile on her face.  _ God, she's beautiful. _ He finds himself blushing even more.

"It was nice, though." the words tumble out of her mouth.

_ 'Okay. Someone get me some ice. _ ' Mike would think to himself if he could actually,  _ you know, think. _

Hopper just rolls his eyes. "Well, guess I've lost  _ that  _ battle already." he says, finally walking past them and into the cabin.

She laughs slightly, Mike finding it immediately contagious.  _ Her laugh...  _ he realises it's the first time he's ever heard it.  _ Even her laugh is... beautiful. _

"It was." he whispers, finally managing to  _ somewhat _ handle the heat in his cheeks. "Really nice."

She smiles, blushing more herself.  
"Again?" she asks curiously.

Mike's eyes immediately dart to Hopper's general direction, in the hope he didn't hear that.  
"Not... not right now. It's more... a private thing."

"Privacy." she quotes. "Okay."

Mike nods, and they head further into the cabin, hand in hand. El closes the door behind them with a simple thought, the soft thud of it quiet, but still catching Mike off-guard.

He laughs somewhat as he suddenly realises  _ she did that, _ as he watches the locks click themselves into place.

"I... I  _ actually _ forgot you've got superpowers." he says, not quite believing it himself.

"You... forgot?" she says, curious as to how he could.

"Yeah, I mean... the fact I'm here,  _ with you,  _ after all this time... All I care about is  _ you, _ not what you can do, and so... I guess it just..." he sighs. "I don't know. I'm sorry." he says, worrying he might be offending her.

She smiles though. "No, don't be sorry. I like it.  _ Thank you. _ "

"Oh... uh... you're welcome."

  


"Kiddos, sit down. We need to talk." Hopper calls them from the dining table.

"About what?" El asks.

"You  two ." he says, pointing between them both. " How things are gonna go from here."

She and Mike glance at each-other immediately. They're unsure what to think of that, but they're excited.  _ If he's brought us together, here, in the cabin, that can only mean good. _

_Right?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 0530. I'm out today. I haven't slept yet.  
> I'm an idiot. But I _cannot_ sleep without giving you beautiful people a new chapter.
> 
> No regrets.

“First of all: I’m sorry.”

Mike and El panic immediately. _No, you can’t keep us apart again. No. We won’t let you._

“What… what for?” Mike asks, hesitantly.

“For how long it’s taken. For how long I’ve kept you both apart.”

They’re relieved, but Mike’s eyebrows furrow in a matter of seconds.  _Hold on…_   
“How long have you been here?” Mike directs the question to El.

“Three-hundred twenty. More.” she says.

“Days? You’ve been counting?”

“With you.” she says. “Every day.”

“You’ve...”

  


He’s speechless.  Even more so when she nods her head with a “Thank you.”  
She notices his speechlessness, and so she continues.

“For talking to me. Every night, even though you didn’t know I was listening.”

M ike smiles slightly, happy that she’s been listening, although he can’t get that number out of his head.

“Three-hundred and twenty days? That means… what, February?” he turns to Hopper. “You found her in February?”

He nods. “Late February, yes. She was hiding in the woods for about a month…”

“ _A month!?_ ” Mike’s head snaps to El.  
“God El, I’m sorry, I should’ve-”

“ _No._ ” she puts her hand on his shoulder, squeezing tight. “ _They_ were watching you. You couldn’t do anything.”

“How… how do you know that?”

“I saw. Same day. Went to your house, wanted to find you, but they were there.”

  


Speechless again, Mike finds himself.

“You _did_ see me.” she confirms. “In the window. You _weren’t_ going mad.” she remembers how many times he’d said that in his calls.

“I…”

He remains speechless. Shaking himself, he returns to the horrible idea of…  
“A  _month._ You were out in the cold? On your own, all that time?”

She nods. “Hopper brought food every night. I was scared, but after a month, I… I couldn’t hide any more. I came out before he left.”

“And then… what, you brought her here?” he’s back to looking at Hopper.

“Straight away.” Hopper confirms. “I’ve been living with her here, ever since.”

Mike smiles, glancing between them. El’s looking at Hopper, a smile playing on her lips too, which tells Mike she’s been comfortable here.

He rises from his chair, shuffling to Hopper’s side, not giving the man any warning as he wraps his arms around him.

“Thank you.” Mike says. “Thank you so much.”

Hopper’s now the speechless one for a few seconds.  
“Don’t mention it, kid.” he eventually manages. “We owe it to her to give her the best life possible.”

Mike smiles at that, as does El, ducking her head shyly.  
“Yeah, we do.” he agrees. “But why didn’t you tell me?” he can’t help but ask.  
“I’ve been…  _broken,_ ever since she vanished. Upset, depressed, angry… god, don’t tell this to anyone, but the cliff… I went there one day, and…”

“ _Mike… no.”_ El’s face is full of fear.

“Michael. You’re not serious?”

“I am… I nearly, so nearly gave up. I looked over the edge, and remembered what it felt like, being caught and brought back up by you.” he smiles as he remembers how truthfully awesome this girl is.  
“All of me was screaming, _‘do it. She’s gone, it’s the only way to see her again.’_ but somewhere… deep inside, I had a feeling that, _maybe, one day,_ you’d return.”

“Well thank god you listened to reason.” Hopper says. “God, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I’d caused that.” his stomach turns at the thought.

“So why didn’t you tell me?” Mike asks again.

“I…” he struggles, not knowing how to explain. “I wanted to, Michael. So many times, I wished I could just go out that door, find you, and let you in on the secret. But I never built the courage. I…”  
He bites his lip. “ _I was scared._ ” he admits. “ _They_ could be anywhere, watching, listening; I couldn’t bare taking the risk.” he finally gets out. “I’m sorry, Mike. I really am. I’ve been too scared to even let her through the door, and I’m going to be petrified for the entire time you’re out later.”

Mike’s a mix of emotions. Deep down is anger, that the man perhaps didn’t trust him. But that anger is shoved away by the feeling of empathy. He understands, and now that he does, he’s  _thankful_ that the man seems to be so protective of her.  _God, he’s treating her like his own._

_Wait a second…  
_ “What do you mean, later?”

Hopper’s eye darts to El, who’s looking at him. He gestures for her to tell him with a flick of his eyes and a slight nod of his head.

“Trick, or treat.” she says.

  


“You’re… you’re going trick-or-treating?” Mike’s eyes are wide, eyebrows stretching for his hairline.

“With you.” she informs him. Suddenly, she remembers the outfit she’d made. Immediately, she jumps from the chair, running into her room. She reaches under her bed, yanking the cloth from where it’d been laying, and tosses it over herself.

Mike’s eyes widen once again as he sees her walk out in her costume.

“Ghost buster.” she says, pointing to Mike, before her finger switches target to herself.  
“Ghost.”

  


The smile on Mike’s face is huge.  _You heard me. You heard my idea, and you’ve made it real. You want to go trick-or-treating with us. With **me**._ He wants to say so much, but he can’t find his voice.

“You found me.” she follows, her smile growing as she remembers his words when he’d given her the idea. His idea, the reason she’s allowed to _finally_ leave the cabin for a few hours later.  She gives in to her urge to hug. This hug is a lot softer than the last, and the feeling of Mike’s hands on her back, not squeezing tight, but just _there,_ is wonderful.

“Thank you.” she finally says to him.

“Wh\- what for?” he asks.

“For finding a way for me to come out. For making a way for us to finally be together again.” she lifts her chin from his shoulder, smiling as she meets his eyes.  
“For never giving up on me.”

He smies, thanking whatever power there may be that persuaded him to continue waiting.  
“Thank  _ you. _ ” he says. “For listening to me every night. For still caring about me.  For…  _ well. _ For everything.”

Her smile grows. “ I’ll always care about you, Mike.”

His smile copies. “Me too, El. Always.”

  


Hopper groans sarcastically, reminding them of his presence as he rises from his chair.  
“I’m out of here before you two end up eating each-other’s faces again.” he tells them as he walks to the sofa, flicking on the TV before crashing onto the sofa. A glance over to them, and…   
_ Yep.  _ Just as red as he’d  hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopper...  
> Too chill with them both being all over each-other?  
> Kinda getting that vibe. Seems OOC to me kinda.
> 
> Oh well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Chapter 5

“How much candy will we get?”

“I don’t know, it depends on how many doors we knock, and how much people give us.”

“How many houses do you think we’ll go to?”

“As many as possible. We just keep going until we have to go back.”

El nods, understanding. She loves this: she has so many questions, so much curiosity. A lot of it may be common sense to perhaps even a five year old, but Mike doesn’t care, and loves to answer and teach her.

Her eyes perk up.  
“Will I see the others?”

“Yeah! They’re all coming!”

“Will too?”

Mike leans back at that, eyes widening as he realises.  
“Oh my god, this’ll be your first time meeting Will…”

She smiles at the idea.

“I… I can’t wait for you two to finally meet.”

“Me too.” she says with a smile. “Finally.”

  


  


“Uh… sir?”

Hopper’s head snaps to him at the sound of the summon.  
“Yeah, Wheeler?”

“Uh… the plan with the other guys was to end the night in my basement before everyone went home. Would you… mind El joining us?”

Hopper’s facial expression visibly changes, not just once, but eventually lands on something resembling _fear._

“I don’t want to say no, but don’t your parents know what El looks like? From when those bastards were looking for her?”

“Well, they pretty much never come down the basement, so I doubt they’ll ever actually realise she’s with us. Dad definitely won’t; he’ll probably be snoring his ass off.” Mike rolls his eyes. “Mom _might…_ but El’s changed a lot since then. It’s been nearly a year, I don’t think she’ll remember El’s face from a photo. If her hair was still short, then yeah she’d definitely notice, but-”

“Okay, Wheeler, I get it.” Hopper cuts him off. “But _what if_ she does?”

“Then I’ll never leave Mom alone until I know she won’t do anything. I won’t _let_ her do anything.” he promises.

“They told her she’s dangerous, Michael.” the man reminds him.

“Yeah, well she’ll just have to understand that they’re lying assholes.” Mike states, looking over to El. She’s frowning, looking _very_ upset suddenly, likely at the mentioning of her being ‘dangerous’, Mike assumes, so without hesitation, she takes El’s hand, causing her head to flinch to him immediately, and, as usual, their eyes end up locking together.

“And I guess, if I have to…” Mike’s speech slows down as he looks deep into El’s eyes, causing Hopper’s eyes to nearly roll out of their sockets.

“If I have to, I’ll tell her that you’re the exact opposite. I’ll tell her about the two times you saved _my_ life.” he emphasises _‘my’_ , knowing he couldn’t possibly include the whole _Demogorgon_ scenario. She smiles now, much to Mike’s relief.

“Cut out the superpower side of things: I could say you just caught me by grabbing my hand after I slipped on the cliff edge, and then with the van, instead of it being flipped over our heads – which is still so freaking awesome – I could say you ran and grabbed me, and shoved me out of the way of it as it sped past.”

Hopper’s eyes clearly display his surprise. A sudden cover story brought up seemingly on the spot, just for El to spend an hour or so with them devouring  _far too much_ candy. He’d be lying if he says he’s not impressed.

“Is she going to believe you, though?” Hopper eventually asks.

“I won’t let her _not_ believe me. The guys can cover for me, too.”

Hopper visibly considers the whole thing, leaning back and staring at the ceiling as he does. He sighs, eventually tilting his head back to the two on the dining table.

“I’m trusting you, Mike.” he says. Both Mike and El’s eyes widen as soon as he does. Sharing a glance, their smiles grow huge.

“Thank you!” Mike exclaims. “I promise, I’ll make sure things don’t go south.”

“I know you will.” Hopper informs him, giving a _‘you damn well better.’_ stare. Mike pays it no attention, though, too excited to care.

“Okay, so we’re all meeting at the Byers’. We go out at about six, get back to my place at eight, and then I’ll get you to Hopper by nine.” Mike runs through the night’s plan.

El nods enthusiastically, her excitement shining through her expression.  
“I can’t wait.” she says.

“Me neither!” he agrees.  
“Today’s already the best day of my life. And it’s just gonna get even better once we go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting to realise just how far this fic could actually go. There's so much story potential, and that excites me to no end.
> 
> HYPED.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is very short.  
> Apologies. I'll see if I have enough time to begin the next later on, considering how short this one is.

“I want her in your place by nine.”

“Yes sir.”

“And back here no later than ten fifteen.”

“You have my word.”

“Make sure those guys keep quiet.”

“I will.”

“They can’t go shouting about her being there, not even in the house.”

“I know.”

“And, if things go south…”

“I will bring her straight back he-”

“No.”

That finally stalls the back-forth agreements between the two; Mike looking shocked.  
“What?”

“If things go south, you _run._ ” he says mainly to El. “Not back here. Anywhere. Away from danger. Only once it’s safe do you even think about coming back here.”

El nods her head in agreement.

“I won’t leave her side, sir.” Mike informs the man.

“I’m aware, Wheeler. _Thank you._ ”

“No, thank _you_ for trusting me. Everybody knows you’re not a fan of showing your emotions, but I can see the worry in you right now. I promise you, everything will be okay, but if not, I will never leave her. We will run non-stop until we’re away from  danger, and I’ll have my SuperCom to keep you or the guys updated.”

Hopper’s eyes widen at the speech from Mike. Such dedication, such bravery, from a kid. It’s horrible that such words  _can_ come from a child’s mouth, but it’s nonetheless impressive. Michael Wheeler, willing to sacrifice seemingly everything for El. If he weren’t impressed, Hopper’s eyes would be rolling from their sockets.

“Come here, Wheeler.” he says, pulling Mike in for a quick fatherly hug, with a pat on the back.  
“You’re a good kid. I couldn’t ask for anyone better for El to be begging for every night.”

They both blush immediately, which gets a smirk from Hopper.

“Go on, before I start panicking again.” he softly nudges them out.

  


“Thank you.” El mouths before they leave sight of Hopper, who just nods his head in response.  
She turns back to looking forward, and they continue their way to the Byers’ house. Of course, their hands never leave each-other’s as they walk and talk about the night they’re going to have.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously need to get out of the habit of beginning a chapter well past midnight. Maybe then I'd actually get some length into them.  
>  _Hmmmm?_
> 
> Thanks so much for sticking with me despite the lack of momentum. It means so freaking much to me ♥

**Knock knock knock**

  


  


"Mike! How are you, the boys have been waiting for y-"

Joyce stalls as her eyes widen in shock. A hand finds its way to her mouth, likely to stop herself from screaming, as tears fill her eyes.

El finds tears easily forming in her own eyes as she meets Mrs. Byers for the first time in over three-hundred and fifty days. Mike follows, watching the two interact through stares and tears, which alone speak the thousands of words that they have for each-other.

"Is it really..."

El nods her head, her smile growing huge as tears begin to flood.  Joyce practically dives at El to pull her into a hug, immediately growing tighter than she means it to. El doesn't hesitate to hug back, too squeezing tight, feeling an odd bond with the woman.

Silence remains for just under a minute as the two hold each-other, silently speaking their thanks, their relief, and their admiration for each-other.

"Mom? Who's-"

Now Will finds himself stalling.  Despite never seeing this girl before, he knows full well who it is. There's only one person Mike would bring with him, seeing as everyone else is already here, and there's only one girl who his mother would be silently holding in such a manner.  
This is definitely Eleven.

" El?" Will hesitates from behind his mother. El's head lifts from Joyce's shoulder, and her eyes immediately lock with Will's. Joyce turns her head towards Will, and he can't help but notice how red both of their eyes are. 

"Will..." she eventually wiggles herself from Mrs. Byers' grasp, and moves over to pulling Will in for his minute of hugs.

"Oh my god, El, I can't believe it's you." he says. "They've all told me everything about you. Mike... he wouldn't stop." he laughs, as do El and the others briefly; Mike blushing immediately but saying nothing.

"Thank you." he then says. "Thank you so much." as he squeezes tighter.

" What for?" she scrunches her eyebrows in confusion, raising her head to look at him as she questions.

"Are you kidding?" Will laughs. "For saving me. For saving everyone. You didn't even know me but you never once hesitated to do whatever it took to get me back."  
He huffs a small laugh. "I owe you my life, El."

She smiles, shaking her head. She recalls one of the lines she's heard from her time as a spectator to the party in the void, mainly from Dustin:

"A party member needed assistance." she says, replaying Dustin's voice in her head, hoping she recalls correctly.

Will smiles, Mike makes a small sound akin to a laugh, whilst Joyce may as well be starting to pour another river's worth of tears. She woman plants a kiss onto El's cheek, which surprises her momentarily.

"Thank you so much, honey. I'll never be able to say it enough."

El quickly feels a smile of her own grow at the show of affection.  
"You don't need to." she says,  before she turns to Will. "You're here, you're well, you're safe. That's all that matters."

  


"Who's voice is that?" Dustin says as he makes his way out towards the crowd, stopping suddenly as he sees El. He's caught off-guard by the hair, but considering Will easily knew who this was, Dustin has no problem.

"Holy shit..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the scene we've all been waiting for!
>     
>     
>       _Damnit Dustin don't you dare go screaming_
>     


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written on a phone, so formatting may be a bit off.  
> (Lesson learned: Android copy/paste does _not_ preserve formatting).
> 
> I also don't know the word count, which is fun. Hope you enjoy nonetheless!

“El… you're…”

“Dustin, quiet.” El immediately instructs him, seeing Mike’s worry.

“El…” he repeats, audibly amazed, shocked by her presence. “You're… you're alive.” he eventually deduces.

“Yes.” she agrees with his discovery.

“Lucas!” He calls, just loud enough to be heard. “Get your ass here right now.”

 

“What could possibly have all of us standing in the freezing doorw-"

The sight of _who_ has everyone frozen shuts him up immediately.  
“You're kidding me.” he eventually comes out with.

“Not quite.” Dustin informs him. “She's very much real and there.”

“But… how?” Lucas asks.

She glanced to Mike, as if asking whether she should get into the whole how story.

“Let's get inside.” he decides. “If you want to them, we can.” he says, the 'we’ sounding very relieving to El, who nods her head.

They settle in the living room; El and Mike on the sofa, Will, Dustin and Lucas sat on the floor. The scene resembles a classroom of infants, minus the fingers on lips. Joyce and Jonathan listen from the dining table.

“Do you want me to start?” Mike asks El.  
She nods, with a “thank you”. And so, Mike begins describing the events as he knows them. Her finding the gate that the Demogorgon had left in the school, to then end up loving with Hopper some time in February. El had mentioned originally heading back to Mike’s, to which Dustin mumbled an “of course”. El’s response was as simple as “why not?”, to which Dustin had no remark against, seeing how Mike’s basement basically _was_ her first real home.

“Holy crap.” Dustin’s first words are typical. “But how did you end up in the Upside-Down?” he asks, ever curious.

“I don't know.” El responds honestly. “I don't want to know.” she admits, which kills any more questions they’d had on the subject.

“Are you okay, though?” Will asks, not wanting to sound too panicked. He hopes that she is, else he'll just feel responsible for any harm that'd come to her, seeing how he’s the one that got stuck in that place to begin with.

“I'm fine.” she informs them, which puts a relieved smile on Will’s face.  
She considers not mentioning what she knows; running either scenario through her head. She decides that bringing this up may be the better choice, and so with a sigh, she continues.  
“You're not, though.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it's been a while.  
> So sorry 

All eyes on El as she mentions an issue with Will.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Will asks her, despite knowing full well what she’s referring to. He’s more curious as to how, or why she knows.

“The Upside-Down. You see it.” she clarifies.

Everyone else is looking at her shocked; even Mike. Will, somehow, remains unfazed.  
“Yeah, but they’re just flashbacks.”

“Flashbacks?” she asks, her one eyebrow raising as it always does.

Of course, Mike jumps to explaining.  
“They’re like memories, but you see them as if you’re there again. I guess it looks similar to how you find or watch people.”

She nods her head at him in understanding.  
“Not flashbacks.” she tells Will, who’s eyebrows shoot up as soon as she does.

“Wh-not… what?”

“Not seeing memories.” she says. “You see now.”

Everyone glances between her and Will, unsure of what to think.

“How do you know that?” Mike eventually asks. The sound of his voice brings Will back to his senses, who swallows in preperation.

“I watched Will talking to the doctors, sometimes.” she says, her gaze not slifting from Will.  
“The thing you talk to them about wasn’t there before.”

Everyone stays quiet. Joyce eventually looks to her son.  
“Is she right?”

Will hesitantly nods his head.

“Why haven’t you told us? They’ve been treating you for PTSD flashbacks, Will!”

“I didn’t know what to say, or how to.” he admits. “I… didn’t know what I was seeing. I thought my mind might’ve been making it up, but I guess not…”

He looks visibly worried, which immediately shifts Joyce into comforting mode. Mike follows, shortly El copies.

“It’s okay, Will. You didn’t know…” Joyce tries.

“But _why_ can I see the Upside-Down?”

“I… don’t know.” El admits.

“Hey, whatever it is, it’ll be okay.” Mike tells him. “The guys at the lab might know what to do.”

“Lab?”

Mike suddenly panics, realising  _what_ he said, in front of  _who_ .  
“Oh, El, it’s got new people now.” he rushes out. “The ones that… were there before. They’re all gone. I promise.”

“I know.” she informs him. “Hopper goes there.”

“Hopper?”

“He’s trying to… _work things out._ ” she quotes. “For me to be able to go outside.”

“Well… you’re here.” Will reminds her. “Must be getting somewhere.”

She shrugs, her head tilting slightly as she does. “Maybe.”

  


“Well, let’s not worry about all that.” Joyce sucks up her new developed worries about Will. “Today is a day worth celebrating, not worrying. El’s finally back, and she gets to make herself sick of chocolate with you.”

That puts a smile onto everyone’s face  immediately.  And so they drop their worries, talk about what they have planned later on, especially focusing on El’s boundaries.  Mike  practically sticks her curfew into everyone’s skull, not wanting to screw  _that_ up on their first outing (in the hope that Hopper  _might_ allow them to see each-other again): in his place by nine, back to the cabin by ten fifteen.  Nobody is to make a big deal of her.  **Never** call her by  _ Eleven _ . She is  _ El _ .  
‘ Eleven, as a name, and the past related to it, should be forgotten.’ Mike had suggested, asking for El’s opinion of course. She’d enthusiastically agreed with the idea. 

J oyce, happy with the knowledge that Will will be with everyone at all times, and will be inside by nine, just engraves into his head that he should tell anyone if anything goes wrong, and to head back to Mike’s house with at least one friend. 

  


And so, they finally leave. El has her sheet over her, the rest have their GhostBuster outfits, and everyone has a pumpkin basket.

El can barely contain her excitement.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting to the point where I have to keep reminding myself of what happens in the real episodes, and then spend a good about of time working out how to adapt that to this AU. I damn well nearly forgot about Max's existence. :/

“You okay, El?”

She turns to look at the one asking (Mike, of course), and he can’t help but think she looks so adorably cute with her ghost sheet over her.

“What do you mean?” She asks.

“Well, we’re gonna be knocking on every single door we can, shouting _‘trick or treat!’._ Are you… _well_ , ready for that?”

“You’re worried I’m scared?”

_Put it bluntly…_   
“Well… yeah, basically.”

She smiles  under her ghost sheet , appriciating his concern.  
“A little.” she admits. “What if someone works for Papa?”

“That’s what I’m worried about, kinda.” he agrees. “But hey, you’re under there. Even if someone does work for that asshole, they won’t be able to recognise you.”

“But what if I recognise them?”

He hears the unspoken words in her concern.  _ What if I recognise them, and I panic? If they see that, they’ll know. _

“You’ll be okay, El.” he tries to reassure her, as well as himself. “I know it’s easier said than done, but if you do, just try your best to act normal while we’re there. Don’t let it show.”

He sees her nod.

“Then once we’re out of there, just let me know or something.”

She nods once again. “I will.”

“And listen… if you want to go home, just tell me, okay? If you ever want to drop out, let me know. We’ll both go back to my house.”

“I… don’t want to ruin it for you.”

“You won’t be. _You’re here._ That’s the best thing I could ask for. It doesn’t matter what we do.”

She ducks her head, with her same old shy smile. She looks back up, and can’t help but love the smile he’s wearing. She leans in to wrap an arm around him.  
“Thank you, Mike.”

He returns the hug. “No problem, El.”

  


 

* * *

  


  


The party are walking down a street, headed to a place to start, when a figure suddenly jumps out at them behind a mask, weilding a knife. Everyone jumps back, Lucas screaming, but El stands her ground. Immediately, the knife is ripped out of the person’s hand, and whoever is behind the mask is knocked off their feet by an invisible force.

The person groans as they hit the floor. “What the hell!?”

As she lifts her mask, the four boys recognise her immediately. “Max!” Lucas exclaims, as he and Dustin run to her side.

“Max?” El asks Mike.

“Oh, just some new girl in town; they’ve both been going crazy over her… I don’t see what’s so cool about her though.”

She looks at the girl laying on the floor.  
“Not bad?”

“Well, not in _that_ way, no.”

“Why did she scare us? Why does she have a knife?”

“Well, that’s the point of Halloween. Being scary.”

Her lips tighten in thought, but she nods her head.

  


“What the hell was that?” Max asks after being helped up by the other two.  
“That was ripped from my hand, and then it felt like someone pushed me over!”

They both glance to El, not saying a word. Mike’s face immediately switches to a  _‘don’t you dare say a single goddamn word.’_ expression.

“Are you sure you didn’t just slip?” Dustin tries to disguise what he knows was El’s doing.

“No, that definitely wasn’t a slip, Dustin. And even if it was, how do you explain my knife suddenly weighing a tonne?” she questions as she picks up said knife.  
“It’s freaking plastic! Feel it, it’s light as all hell but as soon as I scared the shit out of you all, it weighed a literal tonne!”

Lucas bites his lip; his eyes constantly darting between Max and El.

And of course Max notices it.

She looks at El, then back to Lucas; her eyebrows scrunching in confusion. “What’re you looking between us like that for?”

“Oh, nothi-”

“You’re acting as if it was them.” she says bluntly.

“What? No! How could it have been her?” Mike jumps in immediately.

“Well that’s what I’m trying to work out here. That doesn’t make sense, but neither does a plastic knife weighing a tonne, not to mention feeling like I just got shoved back by Luke freaking Skywalker.”

“Luke… Skywalker?” El questions.

“Star Wars.” Mike explains. “We’ll have to show you it some time.”

“Does he have powers too?”

Mike notices her slip up before she does, immediately glancing at Max in the hopes she didn’t catch on.

Unfortunately…

“ _Too?”_ she questions. “What does she mean _‘too’_?”

“I…”

El glances at Mike, realising what she’d said. She knows the last thing she should be doing tonight is revealing her abilities to someone, and of all the people, she’s not very fond of this person, seeing as her first meeting consisted of trying to scare her. But she also knows that this is never going to end.

“Max.” El calls from Mike’s side, who immediately snaps his head to her.

“Don’t!” he whispers, trying to balance his volume loud enough for El to hear, but not Max.

“It… it was me.” El admits. “I thought you were going to hurt us.”

“How… how could it’ve been you?” Max questions.

El raises a hand, her fingers stretched out as if ready to catch something.  
“Let go of your knife.” she tells Max.

Max’s eyebrows furrow in confusion, but after a moment, she does.

El  yanks the knife into her hands as soon as it’s free of Max’s grasp, who’s eyes shoot wide open as she observes the knife fly sideways into El’s hand.

“What the shit?” Max exclaims.

“Quiet!” Mike whisper-shouts, glancing around to ensure nobody heard or saw.

“Uh, no, lover-boy, I don’t think so.”

His eyebrows scrunch at the nickname, but he waves it off.  
“Yes, Maxine. She’s lucky to even be out right now, so keep it down!”

Max hesitates at that;  _lucky to be out?_ What, has she been kept locked up or something?

“ _Please, Max._ ” Mike insists. “I’ll explain it another time, okay? For now… just let it go for now. _Please._ ”

She continues to glance between him and El for a moment, but eventually speaks up.  
“Fine. But you’re explaining this to me some other time, Wheeler.”

“Is that okay with you?” he asks El, before leaning in to whisper.  
“I’ll only explain the powers, I won’t tell her where you’re from or anything like that.”

Appriciating yet again, she smiles under the sheets.  
“It’s okay.”

  


And so, they continue on their way to begin  _actually_ trick-or-treating.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another chapter that's been written on a phone. It's also been on and off all day, so I absolutely wouldn't be surprised if there's mistakes in here.

“Do I… have to say it?”

Mike turns to El, immediately understanding her shyness.  
“You don’t have to. We can say it, if you just want to stand there, that’s cool.”

“Yeah El! But you’ll get used to it.” Dustin tells her. “Will used to hate going trick-or-treating because he hated having to meet people.”

“Oh, thanks, Dustin.” said person comments.

“Sorry, man! Just trying to reassure the newcomer.” Dustin immediately responds.

“You don't need to say anything until you feel comfortable.” Mike tells El, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Just hang around and see how it goes for now.”

“Thanks, Mike.” she responds, endlessly grateful for how much he cares about her.

 

* * *

 

  
“Trick or treat!” everyone but El and Mike shout as the door opens (Mike staying silent by El’s side so she doesn't feel like the odd one out).

Thewoman in the doorway gasps. “Ooh, little Ghost Busters!” she exclaims. “I wouldn't have recognised you if it weren't for your spooky friend!”

Elsmiles underneath her ghost sheet at the reference to her. The woman holds out a jar full of Three Musketeers, to which everyone rolls their eyes but Dustin and El.

“If I get one more Three Musketeers, I'm going to go crazy.” Lucas declares.

“What? You _are_ crazy!” Dustin tells him. “Three Musketeers is amazing!”

“Dude, it's just nougat.”

“ _Just nougat?_ Are you serious? This is easily in my top three.”

“ _Top three?_ ”

Mikerolls his eyes at the bickering, which earns a giggle from El.

“They'll never change.” Will states, as the three of them watch the other three (Dustin, Lucas and Max) run on ahead.

“Never.” Mike agrees.

 

* * *

 

  
They're walking in their separate threes; Max having declared that another area will likely have more (or better) loot.  
Until…

“Trick or Treat, Freak!” a person blurts into Will’s face, causing him to fall backwards.

“Will!” both Mike and El shout at the same time. Mike drops down to Will’s side, but El suddenly looks up into the sky.

“Mike…”

“El?”

“He's… seeing the Upside-Down.”  
Will looks around, suddenly jumping up.

“Mike!?”

“Will, Will I'm here!” Mike responds, but Will doesn't hear him.

“Mike, something's coming.” El tells him.

“Wh-what's coming?”

“It's… huge.”

“You can see what he's seeing?”  
“Yes.” she confirms. “It's…”  
Suddenly, Will bolts away from them.  
“We need to run!” El tells Mike, yanking her ghost outfit off so she can run properly, then grabbing Mike's hand to pull him along. They follow Will as well as they can.

They end up in a small alleyway; Will cowering into a corner to avoid the entity rushing past him.

“Will!” Mike jerks his shoulders. “Will! You're okay!”

“Mike?” he snaps out of his vision. “El?”

Mike and El sigh in relief in near-enough unison. El dives at Will to wrap him into a hug.

“You alright, Will?” Mike asks.

He sighs. “Yeah, I… yeah.

Mike then sighs in response. “Do you want to head home?”

Will nods his head.

“El, I'm-”

“I'll come too” she cuts off Mike's apology.

“You sure? You've wanted to go trick or treating for so long…”

“No,” she shakes her head. “I just wanted to see you again.”

Mikecan't help but grin like an idiot as he feels his heart swell.

“Let's go.” she snaps him out, extending a hand to both him and Will.  
They take her hands gratefully, and begin a slow walk back to the Wheeler residence.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's more important?  
> Writing and publishing a chapter, or getting sleep before a job interview?
> 
> According to me, the former.

“Guys, wait!” Lucas calls from down the road, causing Mike to flinch at the volume of his voice. Dustin and Max follow closely behind.

“What the hell happened?” Dustin asks as they stand opposite the three others; Will clearly looks worse for wear, but his attention is caught by the clear lack of a ghost sheet over El.  
“El, aren’t you supposed to be hiding?”

“Doesn’t matter.” she responds bluntly, having become comfortable that nobody would recognise her amongst a crowd.

“Will, are you okay?” Max becomes the one to make Will’s ill look known to him.

“Yeah, I’m… I’m fine.” he responds, clearly _not_ fine by the sounds of his voice.

“Dude, was it one of your flashbacks again?” Dustin asks him.

“Dustin, be quiet!” Mike shuts the other boy up. “Just… go on without us, okay? We’re headed back to my place. You guys go on.”

With that, Mike begins walking away, tugging Will and El with him.

  


  


“Is he?” she then asks Lucas and Dustin for clarification, not believing Will.

“He…” Lucas debates internally whether to let Max in on Will’s… _issues._  
He decides against it, _for now._  
“He’ll be fine, he’s got those two.”

“That brings up a good point: Who the hell is she?” Max then questions, whispering as she asks, respecting Mike’s plea to keep it down.

“She… _man,_ it’s a long story. We’ll let Mike explain it later, yeah? He’s better at that and… _well_ , he’s always been a bit… _all over her_ , I guess. He’d probably go insane if he found out _we_ told you instead of him.”

She stiffles a laugh. “I’m not surprised. Girl with superpowers? I’d be insane over her too if I swung that way.”

That earns a laugh from the two boys.

“I… wasn’t so sure about her when we first met. I honestly wanted her as far away from us as possible; I thought she was from a mental assylum or something, but then…”

“Then comes the part Mike should be explaining.” Dustin finishes for him.

“Yeah, definitely.”

  


 

* * *

  


  


It doesn’t take long for the trio to make it to the Wheeler basement. They all shuffle in one after the other; Will, El, Mike. Mike cringes at his failure to close the door quietly. Shaking it off, they walk over to the sofa, Mike and El sitting either side of Will.

Mike’s about to start talking, but…

“Michael? Back so soon?”

“Oh shit.” Mike whispers under his breath. El tenses up, eyes snapping to the stairs as they hear the footsteps of Michael’s mother make their way down.

“What’s the reason for- _oh!_ ” she’s surprised by the new face.  
“Who’re you?”

As if programmed together, Mike and El share a cautious glance with each-other. El is clearly biting her lip, so Mike silently hopes to  _whatever_ higher power there may be that this doesn’t go south.

“This… is El.” he informs his mother. “A new friend of ours.”

“El?” Karen questions. “Is that short for something?”

Mike observes El in the corner of his eye, as she visibly prepares herself to talk with his mother.  
“Elenor.” she answers, then sharing a glance with Mike, popping a quick smile. Mike can’t help but mirror it, remembering the confrontation with Mr. Clarke.

“Oh, I’ve always loved that name!” the woman tells her.  
“I’m Karen, Michael’s mother.” she begins walking to the three, holding her hand out to El.

El awkwardly raises her hand. She’s seen handshakes on TV, so she knows what this is, but this is her first time receiving, or giving one.

“Nice to meet you, Elenor.” Karen says as she shakes El’s hand.

“Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Wheeler.” El tries hard to sound like she’s not scared, like she’s not doing this for the first time ever.

Karen just smiles as she backs up slightly. “Where are the other two?”

“Oh, they stayed out with another new friend of theirs.” Mike informs her. “They should be back here at nine still, though.”

“Two new friends in a single day? Well, that’s great!” Karen states. “And hey; it’s _about time_ you got a female to keep you boys in line.” she jokes.

Will stiffles a laugh at that. Mike rolls his eyes, whilst El’s unsure of how to react; just hoping that this doesn’t go bad.

“Well, I’m happy to meet you, Elenor.” Karen says to her. “If you need anything, feel free to help yourself, alright? I’ll be just upstairs.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Wheeler.” El responds.

“My pleasure, sweetie.” the woman responds before walking back to the stairs. The trio watch her work her way upward, all sighing in relief in near unison as soon as they hear the door creak, audibly obvious that it’s still slightly open.

“My god, that was tense.” Will breaks the silence.

“Yeah, that was…” Mike agrees, before he takes El’s hand, squeezing it slightly.  
“You handled that perfectly, El!”

“Thank you.” she smiles back, feeling proud of herself for not slipping up in any of her speech.  
“Lots of practise with Hop.” informs him.

“Oh, I bet.” Mike smirks. “Well he’s taught you really well.”

She smiles, nodding her head. He may not be  _perfect,_ but he definitely has taught her well. No question about that.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Well._  
>  This chapter went from serious talk to fluff in a matter of miliseconds...

“… And they started just around Christmas.” Will finishes, having described the visions he’s been getting. El had already informed them that they aren’t flashbacks, and that she could see what he was seeing.

“So how could you see what he saw?” Mike asks her, as if on cue.

“Like how I watched you.” she informs him. “Not in the real world, but in my head. That was the first time I could see the real world and something else at the same time.”

“So… Will having the vision kind of forced you into it as well?”

“I don’t know. I guess.”

They pause for a moment; not knowing how to continue the conversation.

“Do you think we should tell your mom?” Mike asks Will. “About them being real visions.”

“As long as she doesn’t go telling the doctors.” he responds. “It’d be too risky if she does.”

“Of course!” he immediately agrees, nearly rolling his eyes at the thought of Will thinking he’d risk that. “We don’t need them even being close to thinking El’s back.”

“Exactly.” Will agrees, having been referring to El himself.  
“Even if it’d help, I’d rather live with it than put you at risk.” he tells El.

She smiles, greatful for the care that Will has for her, despite only meeting _today._  
“I’m sorry…” she says, smile dropping. “For being a… setback.”

“What?” Mike immediately lets out.

“No, El!” Will follows directly. “You are _not_ a setback, okay? Your background isn’t your fault. Please, don’t blame yourself for what I’m going through.

“But you wouldn’t be going through it if I didn’t open the gate.” she answers, frowning all the more.

“ _That_ also isn’t your fault, El.” Will doesn’t hesitate. “Just like Mike told you: You are _not_ the monster. You were forced to do what you did, by those… _assholes._ None of it, not a single fraction, is your fault. Please, El. Understand that.”

El slowly lets her smile return, even if she has difficulty lessening the blame on herself.  
“Okay.” she nods her head. “Thank you.”

Mike gives Will a thankful smile. A  _very_ thankful smile at that. His exact thoughts, and Will projects them perfectly. That is everything he could ever ask for.

  


 

* * *

  


  


The rest  of the party – Dustin, Lucas, and Max – arrive shortly after, having only visited a few houses before the urge of wanting to ensure Will is okay overtook.

“Dude, you good?” are Dustin’s first words immediately after entering the door.

“Yeah, Dustin. We’re good.” Will responds. “It was nothing, honestly.”

“Are you sure?” Max questions. “You seemed pretty shook up, out there.”

“I always am, right after them. They’re as real as day for me, so yeah… can’t help it. But yes, I’m fine.”

“Alright, well, don’t think I forgot about your girlfriend, Wheeler. I want explinations.”

“Girlfriend?” he questions, feeling the heat build up in his face quicker than a stove.  
“Today’s the first time we’ve seen each-other in close enough to a year. How can we-”  
He stalls as his eyes flick to El. She’s looking at him, not hurt, more curious.

The stall earns snickers from Dustin and Lucas, Max smirking.

“Just don’t.” Mike says to those. “And, keep it quiet. One, my mom’s just met her for the first time a couple of minutes ago. Second, th-”

“Wait, your mom’s seen El?” Dustin interrupts.

“Shut the hell up!” Mike nearly screams in his face.  
“ _Secondly,_ ” he emphasises as he tries again, “those bastards wiretapped this place when they were looking for her. So keep the voices down. You understand?”

“Yeah, _Dustin._ ” Lucas insists. “She’s only just managed to break Hopper’s tight hold – don’t give him a reason to move her to freaking Australia, now.”

He raises his hands in surrender.

“Well, come on then. What’s your story?” Max asks El.

She and Mike share a glance briefly, as if sharing a silent “here we go”.

“I was raised in a lab.” she begins. “They forced me to do what they told. Every day, more experiments, see what I could do.”  
“Until last year. They pushed me too hard…”

Mike notices her stalling, so he takes over. “ Basically, she accidentally opened a gate to another world, where a monster came through, and took Will. That’s where his visions are coming from.”

“Slow the hell down.” she tells them. “So… Will got taken… to anohter world, by some monster.”

“That’s the gist of it.” Dustin says, as if it’s a common occurance. “She helped us get him back out, though.”

“Right…”

“Yeah. It was the gate that let El escape.” Mike continues. “I guess whilst everyone was busy working out what the hell they’d caused, she took the opportunity to run for it.”

She smiles, nodding her head. “I found Benny first, but he just wanted to call ‘social services’, but ended up getting killed by one of them.”

“ _Shit._ Benny the burger guy? I heard that was a suicide!”

“Yeah, they covered it up as that.” Mike clarifies.

“After that I ran, in the rain, cold, scared. Then I run into these three.”

“That’s Mike, Lucas and Dustin?”

“Yes. Mike gave me his coat, brought me here. He let me sleep here, until we had to run again.”

“What, you were going to stay here forever?”

“I… I wanted to have her adopted in, I guess, but it never would’ve worked…” Mike admits. “So the situation now, living with Hopper, is a good thing, if anything.”

“And how did that come to be? How come you’ve not seen each-other for nearly a year?”

Both of their heads duck in near-perfect sync as they remember the horrible moment that caused it.

“I… guess it’s bad then.” she deduces.

“Horrible.” Lucas amends. “We… _well._ We thought she was dead, after it. As much as we wanted to believe she could’ve lived… but Mike did believe. Mike didn’t want to let go, ever.”

“You really like her, don’t you?” she asks Mike.

“ _Stop._ ” he immediately demands.

“I’m not mocking you! I mean it. You don’t keep on believing in just _anyone_ for an entire year, Mike.”

“I…” he sighs. “I guess, if I have to say it.”

Smirks rise on Lucas and Dustin. Will and Max just smile, happy for Mike.

“She’s saved my life three times straight, sure, but that’s just a bonus. She… she just understood me, I guess. She just accepted us all for who we were as soon as she saw us. She didn’t care what I was like, she didn’t care when I came home with a bruise on my chin thanks to Troy… I guess… I guess that means a lot to me.”

El’s smiling, loving the words that Mike says. She’d thought nothing of it, but hearing what Mike thinks of her is more heartwarming than she could’ve ever imagined.

“Mike, your heart-eyes are showing.” Lucas jokes.

“ _Don’t._ ” Mike doesn’t hesitate to swap those out for anger-eyes.

“Guys, lay off. I think it’s great, for the both of them.” Will shares his input. “Starting off young, sure. But they’ve got a background, they’ve got their reasons. I think they’re set.”

“You’re talking like we’ve made something official!” Mike comments.

“Well you might as well!” Max tells him. “Honestly, Mike, I’m not trying to enbarrass you, or mock you, or anything like that. Like Will said; you’ve got a story behind you. You’ve got a great connection that anyone in a sixty-mile radius could see. I really think you should.”

Mike sighs, not sure what to say.

“What do _you_ think, El?” she then asks.

“I…” she wonders how best to respond in the current situation.  
“I think I’d like that.” she decides, causing an immediate reaction of surprise from Mike.

“You saved me from the rain, and you understood me, too. You helped me, without questioning who I was, why I’m the way I am, or why my hair was short. You didn’t ask why I had a tattoo on my arm, or why I could barely speak. You just gave me a home, gave me food, and tried your best to protect me. You…” she sighs. “You’re a lovely person, Mike.”

He smiles greatly, barely keeping himself from watering up at her comments.

“So… are you _going_ to make it official? You both _want_ to, you might as well.” Max tells them.

They look at each-other, as if to consider it together. On the plus side, it’ll be an amazing feeling to say that about each-other. On the downside, parents are going to know, and it’ll be extremely out of nowhere and sudden to them. Not to mention the teasing that’ll come from Dustin, Lucas, probably Max eventually.

The bonus kinda outweighs any possible cons, though.

“I… would like that.” El’s the one to break the lingering silence.

“You… you _would?_ ” Mike questions, as if in disbelief.

“Would you?” she asks him.

“Well, I guess, yeah! It’s just… a bit soon, isn’t it?”

“We don’t have to, if you don’t want to.” she says, the smile on her face slowly fading away.

“No, I want to!” Mike now doesn’t hesitate, seeing the displease in El. “Parents don’t have to know, I guess. Not mine, definitely. Not until like, a couple of months.

El’s smile returns, as she nods. “So we… are? Official?”

“I… I guess.” Mike can’t help the smile that breaks through the ever-increasing temperature of his cheeks.

“God, it’s about time you admit it.” Lucas comments, earning a laugh from Dustin. “All this time and you’ve only just admitted it. We were wondering when you’d grow the guts.”

“Lucas, stop.” he responds same as old.

“Well I’m happy for you.” Will tells him.

“Yeah, me too.” Max agrees. “Glad I could help you both.”

“Thanks.” Mike gives her, Will shortly after.

“Yes, thank you.” El also gives Max. 

“Any time, kids. Just don’t be all over each-other now, please.”

“Max!” Mike can’t help but roll his eyes.

“Sorry!” she raises her hands in surrender.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't say I didn't warn you.


	14. Chapter 14

“El, do you and Hopper have a phone in the cabin?” Mike asks.

“I… don’t think so.” she answers.

“Crap… okay, listen. I’m gonna take El back to her place; we need to tell him what’s going on with Will, so maybe he’ll let El out more to help. You guys, do what you want, but I think you should head back to fill in Mrs. Byers. Just tell her to not mention anything to the doctors.”

“I agree.” Will says. “I’m not sure what she’ll think, but we’d be best to get it done with now.”

“Are you sure this isn’t just an excuse to get more alone time with your _now_ girlfriend?” Lucas jokes.

“Oh my god…” Mike rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, Lucas.” Dustin nudges his shoulder. “As if the _police chief_ would let them be all over each-other in his presence.”

“Guys, seriously?” Mike complains.

“Guys, lay off.” Will defends. “Let’s _not_ give the chief ammunition against them, yeah? We don’t need him wanting to keep them separated _again._ ”

“ _Thank you,_ Will.” Mike sighs. “Let’s just go, yeah?” he stands, asking El.

“We tell him about Will… then what?” she asks him.

“I… don’t know.” he admits. “We’ll see?”

She nods. “We’ll see.”

  


 

* * *

  


  


“Why do they joke?”

Mike turns his gaze to El. “Huh?”

“About us. Why do they find it funny?”

“Oh! Ugh, I don’t know.” he tells her. “I guess because we’re still just thirteen? We’re pretty young to be saying we like each-other the way we do… uh…” he stumbles, feeling himself heat up quickly.

El notices this, so she squeezes his hand to grab his attention.  
“The things we’ve been through… have wisened us beyond our years.”

Mike takes that in, and nods his head. “Is that something Hopper’s said to you?”

She nods her head.

“Well that’s true. That’s definitely true. I guess they’re just being immature about us, really.”

“Immature… acting like children?”

“Yeah, that’s it. You’d think they’d understand why we’re like this… but I guess not.”

“I think they do.”

“You do?”

“Yes. I think they understand, but like to joke anyway.”

Mike hums in understanding. “Maybe.”

There’s a brief moment of silence between them, before Mike suddenly feels a tinge of guilt.  
“I’m sorry we couldn’t stay out for long, El.”

“It’s not your fault, Mike.”

“No, but still… your first Halloween, and we’re already heading back… not much of a Halloween really, is it?”

“Mike.” she stops him in his path, pulling his hand so he faces her. They lock eyes immediately.  
“I’m here, you’re here. We’re together. That’s all I wanted. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. This is the best Halloween.”

A smile immediately breaks onto Mike’s face. He still wishes they could’ve done more Halloween-related stuff, but…

“Yeah, you’re right.” he agrees. “This will always be the best Halloween.”

With that, they continue walking towards the cabin.

“And hey, I guess we’ve got plenty of junk to go through.” he gestures to their baskets.

She nods. “Eat a lot, be sick, get fat and have a heart attack.”

Mike laughs, as does El once she hears Mike. “Hopper’s taught you well.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

As they get closer to the cabin, El unlocks the door ready for them. Mike hears the locks slide open, and can’t help but smile.  
“That’ll never stop amazing me.”

The door opens to reveal Hopper standing on the other side, .looking _scared._  
“What’s wrong? What’s brought you back so soon?”

“Nothing about me.” El tells him, and he immediately loosens up.

“It’s Will.” Mike follows. “He had another episode, and El could see it at the same time.”

“Shit, is he-” Hopper stalls as Mike’s words register inside his head. “Hold on what?”

“Big monster in the Upside-Down. Chased Will when it saw him.”

Hopper sighs as he runs a hand over his face. “So if you saw what Will’s seeing…”

“His visions are real time.” Mike finishes Hopper’s sentence. “He’s seeing the Upside-Down, and whatever’s there is chasing him.”

“Jesus Christ.” Hopper sighs. “Alright, I’m guessing he’s back home?”

“The others should’ve got him home by now, yeah. We all stopped by at my place to talk about it, then decided we’d come to tell you whilst they went back to his house.”

“Is he going to tell his mother?” Hopper asks.

“Probably, but he’s going to make sure she doesn’t go blasting it on the doctors. It’ll seem a bit suspicious if we suddenly know as fact that Will’s seeing live visions.”

“My thought exactly.” Hopper agrees. “Alright, I’m gonna go see them. You two coming with?”

Mike and El glance at each-other, as if to silently ask the other what they want.

“Can we stay?” El asks, turning back to Hopper.

“Yeah… I’d rather our first day back together not be full of Upside-Down crap…”

“Of course.” Hopper rolls his eyes. “I’ll see you two later then. Behave, yeah?”

“Hop…”

“I’m kidding! Keep your hair on.” he laughs as he walks out, closing the door behind him.

  


“Should we… tell him?” El asks Mike once the coast is clear.

“Tell him what?” Mike asks her as they take their seat on the sofa, the TV flicking on as El orders it to.

“About us, being… _official._ ” she clarifies.

“Oh, uh…” he stumbles, blushing yet again. “Do you… do you think that’s a good idea?”

“He expects it.” she says bluntly.

“Wh-really?”

“Yes. I think he’d laugh. We decided very quick.”

“Yeah, we did.” Mike agrees. “But I’ve known for a while… I mean, yeah I kissed you, at the school, but when you vanished… god, I felt so empty. That’s when I really knew I need you.”

El finds herself smiling. “When you first kissed me, I didn’t know what it meant, but I knew it made me happy. I wish I could’ve told you I was alive sooner… I’m sorry, Mike, I’m really, re-”

“Hey, hey hey. It’s not your fault, El. I’ll never blame you for anything, okay?”

“I know.” El nods her head. “I’m still sorry, though. You were in so much pain… but the bad men… those _government assholes._ ” she tries for the first time, finding the term oddly satisfying. “They ruined everything.”

“Well hey, we’re here now, aren’t we? Yeah we got torn apart for such a long time, but we still found each-other in the end, so screw them.”

El nods. “Screw them.”

“Anyway, let’s not get worked up about the past.” Mike says, grabbing their Halloween baskets. “We better get started on these.” he hands her a Three Musketeers.

Tearing the wrappers open, they take their bits in sync. El’s eyes shoot open as she tastes the chocolate for the first time.   
“This is amazing!” she mumbles through her bites.

Mike laughs at that, shaking his head.   
“Dustin would be proud.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [me_irl](https://thebewildered20somethingwriter.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/3prtom.jpg)
> 
>  
> 
> Not dead! Suddenly employed, which may as well _mean_ dead to the fic world, but not actually dead.
> 
> I've had most of this chapter sat in this fic's folder for a _while_ , now. I've had no idea how to end it.  
> Safe to say, I'm struggling to keep this one up. As for the other early reunions, yeesh,..
> 
> If you want more frequent updates, I've started a new post-S2 fic called 'Bond'. It's started very much Will/OC based, but I'm kinda hoping to turn it into a long-running fic that visits everyone as a main character every once in a while. In regards to the style, I'd love to imagine it living up to [Love You Like a Love Song](/works/12748092), but that's setting the bar stupidly high.
> 
>  
> 
> Okay, I'ma shut up.  
> Apologies for the ridiculous wait.

Hopper arrives at the Byers home, knocking on the door firmly. He can already hear the chatter of the kids from the inside, making him run a hand over his face as he prepares himself for the inevitable onslaught of questions from all of them.

The door opens to reveal Joyce, looking more worried than anything else.  
"Hopper? Thank god, get in here." she practically drags the man into her house. Closing the door, she turns to look at him expectantly. Hopper notices the look on her face and jumps to the conclusion.

"Guess they've told you about Will, then." he assumes.

"Of course they have, Hop." she remarks. "They haven't shut up about it, especially the new girl."

"New girl?" Hopper's eyebrows raise in question.

"Max, she said her name was.Anyway, did El tell you anything? Do you know what's going on?"

Hopper sighs. "A bit. As much as she knows herself."

"Which is?" Joyce insists desperately.

"That she saw it too, at the same time."

Joyce's eyes shoot open. "She... what?"

"She told me that she saw the same thing he did. A huge monster or something, that came chasing them."

Joyce sighs, taking a drag of her cigarette, clearly distressed.  
"A huge monster." she repeats. "Same as the last one?"

"I... I don't think so. I'm sure she'd be able to tell me that."

"She didn't describe it?"

"Not really..." Hopper admits. "But she's saying that what he's been seeing... aren't flashbacks. She told me that what he's been seeing is all real. Happening right now."

This clearly hits Joyce hard. She backs up slowly, hitting the wall before leaning against it.  
"How does that even make sense?"

"It doesn't." Hopper agrees. "But neither does any of the crap we've been through."

Joyce nods at that, sighing again.  
"You think she's right?"

"I trust her more than those goons at the lab." he says seriously. "Yeah. I'd put my money her being right."

"Well what do we do about it, then?" Joyce asks without hesitation. "I'd bring it up to those 'goons' but that's too dangerous."

"Oh, thank god you're on the same page as us there." Hopper sighs in relief.  
"We definitely need to bring it up at some point... some how." he says slowly, clearly not liking the fact. "But we've gotta figure out some sort of story, so they don't have any reason to suspect anything."

"And?" she insists. "Any ideas?"

"None." Hopper admits. "I have no idea how we can go about it."

She sighs, turning her head in a dreading nod. With that, she begins heading to Will's room, where the other's are. Their voices had died down, and so she decides to check on them.

  


She finds Will surrounded by the three others; he immediately tries to hide the paper in front of him upon her entering, but she notices that action.

"Will, what is that?" she asks.

"Nothing!" he quickly blurts back, completely unconvincing.

" _Will._ " she insists. "Please, you know I hate you hiding stuff from me." she approaches him, laying a hand onto his shoulder. He sighs, lowering his head.  
"Are you drawing what you saw?"

He hesitantly nods, revealing the paper he'd worked on. Her eyes widen. The entity he's drawn is all black, seemingly huge thanks to the angle, with a faceless...  _head?_ Which despite having absolutely no features, is clearly staring directly into her soul. 

She looks back at Will, seeing the worry in his eyes.  
"That's what you've been seeing?" she asks.

He nods.

"Why haven't you told me?"

"I didn't want to worry you." he admits honestly.

" Will." she sighs. "You worry me more by  _not_ telling me this stuff. I need to know these things to help you."

" Same here, dude." Lucas agrees with Mrs. Byers. "We get it. Just look at how broken Mike was whilst El was missing, The first couple of weeks, god..."

"He really was just  _gone._ " Dustin finishes for him, seeing Mike's struggle.  
"Didn't speak to any of us for a good few weeks, minus the odd acknowledgement of our existence over the 'Coms."

"Yeah... And then  _you_ finally broke his shell." Lucas turns back to Will.  
"He was much brighter the first day you spoke to each-other about her."

"What they're trying to say, is that talking, to us, your mom, Jonathan, just  _someone_ who'll listen,  _really_ helps." Max summarises. 

" _Thank you,_ guys." Joyce nods her head.

Will gives in, nodding his head. It's not like he _can_ keep this from them now; he'd been drawing it for them, his mother's seen it, and she'l likely raise it to Jonathan at some point. Everyone knows, so he might as well use what help they can provide.

Not to mention, El.  
The only other person who's been to the Upside Down.  
The only one out of them who knows what it's like.

Sure, there's his mother and Hopper; they'd brought him back from the dead _in the Upside Down_ , after all, but they're not his age; it's easier to communicate to friends than adults.

_Death._  
Another thing he's visited.  
Not just the Upside Down.  
But the darkness beyond.

Nobody's seen that and returned to struggle with it.  
Nobody, but him.

El can relate to him regarding the Upside Down.  
But not death.

  


Nonetheless, he makes a promise.  
He'll try to talk about his issues to everyone else. Less containing it within himself. More opening up, letting the pain out.

Maybe it  _will_ help.

Hopefully.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for joining me in this journey!  
> I have no idea why I love writing these alternate reunion stories so much. I just hope you love them as much as I!
> 
> If you do enjoy what you read, please let me know with a kudo! If you've got the time, I'd absolutely love if you could drop your thoughts, and any feedback you might have in a comment! Seeing even a "(1)" in my inbox makes me jump out of my skin in excitement every single time, and works wonders at encouraging me to write more!
> 
> Thank you so much either way ♥

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [WHO YOU GONNA CALL?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14370018) by [CarrieWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarrieWrites/pseuds/CarrieWrites)




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